Ronda Rousey and Most Memorable Celebrity Performances in WrestleMania History

WrestleMania, WWE's biggest showcase of the year, has been a star-studded event since its debut in 1985. 

The first WrestleMania featured Mr. T as Hulk Hogan's tag team partner against Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper in the main event, with Muhammad Ali as a special guest referee. 

Vince McMahon has always gone big at every opportunity possible, and it has paid off in spectacular fashion. WrestleMania weekend last year in Orlando, Florida, secured five straight sellouts from Friday through Tuesday, and WrestleMania 33 drew a record $14.5 million in revenue, per Kristi Dosh of Forbes.  

The big draw for WrestleMania 34 on April 8 will be Ronda Rousey. The former UFC women's bantamweight champion made her first appearance at a WWE event in a segment with The Rock, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania 31. 

This year, Rousey will be at WrestleMania as an official WWE star after a brief appearance at the Royal Rumble on January 28. 

Let's take a look back at the most memorable appearances from non-wrestling stars on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

Ronda Rousey Stuns Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania 31

Don Feria/Associated Press

Since Rousey is a big part of WrestleMania this year, it makes sense to start with what really started her on the path to joining WWE. 

In one of the most memorable segments at arguably the best WrestleMania WWE has produced, Rousey was pulled out of the crowd by The Rock after Triple H and Stephanie McMahon gave The People's Champion a verbal beatdown.  

Even with Triple H taking a perfect bump on a judo throw from Rousey, the best part of the segment was what didn't happen. McMahon attempted to slap Rousey, who caught her arm and nearly locked her in the armbar submission that was her signature move in Strikeforce and UFC. 

Rather than waste the big payoff to the angle in that segment, WWE now has a storyline from three years ago it can finally deliver on if/when Rousey and McMahon are in a match together.

Pete Rose Is Tombstoned by Kane, Twice

One of WWE's best recurring gags at WrestleMania was Pete Rose showing up to take a Tombstone from Kane. 

The first time it happened was at WrestleMania XIV in Boston, when the former baseball star served as the guest ring announcer for Kane's match against The Undertaker. 

The logic of this encounter didn't make sense from a booking standpoint. Kane, who was supposed to be a heel, came out to make the save after Rose spent a full minute mocking the Boston Red Sox to rile up the audience. 

However, it paid off so well that the following year Rose, dressed in a chicken costume, was involved again when he interfered in Kane's match with Triple H and was hit with another Tombstone. 

Rose's final WrestleMania altercation with Kane was in 2000, when he tried to hit The Big Red Machine with a baseball bat but wound up taking a chokeslam and getting the Stinkface from Rikishi. 

Even though Rose never got the best of Kane, his work at three WrestleManias was enough to get him inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004. 

Floyd Mayweather Goes One-on-One with Big Show at WrestleMania XXIV

Perhaps the most surprising thing about Floyd Mayweather's match against Big Show at WrestleMania XXIV is that it was really good. 

WWE has used a lot of celebrities in matches at WrestleMania for publicity, and 99 percent of them are unwatchable because they aren't trained performers. 

While Mayweather isn't a trained wrestler, he was made to be in WWE. The boxing superstar is all about attitude, flare and charisma when he goes about selling a fight. He wore a pair of sunglasses and a necklace walking to the ring that read "philthy rich," making him the perfect wrestling heel. 

When I say the match was really good, I'm not comparing it to Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin or The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels. It was a fun match that did exactly what it was supposed to do—make Mayweather look like a superstar. 

Credit also goes to Big Show, who took what looked like a legitimate punch to the face when Mayweather was wearing a pair of brass knuckles. 

Donald Trump Takes a Stone Cold Stunner (Sort Of) at WrestleMania 23

Years before he would become President of the United States, Donald Trump played a role in one of the most successful WrestleMania events of all time. 

In fact, with 1.25 million pay-per-view buys, WrestleMania 23 held the record for the biggest WWE show for five years until the first match between John Cena and The Rock at WrestleMania XXVIII in 2012. 

Billed as the "Battle of the Billionaires," Bobby Lashley took on Umaga with Trump in Lashley's corner and Vince McMahon in Umaga's corner. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin served as the special guest referee. 

Even though Trump and McMahon weren't actually in the match, the stipulation was the loser would have to get their head shaved. Lashley wound up getting the pinfall win, but the match is more memorable for two moments involving Trump. 

The first is when Trump tackled McMahon on the outside of the ring and threw something resembling punches. 

After the match was over and McMahon's head was shaved, Trump and Austin decided to toast the win with a beer.

As he is wont to do, Austin attempted to deliver a stunner to Trump, who never seemed to figure out how to take the bump and just kind of fell forward then backward before The Texas Rattlesnake could grab his head.

Mike Tyson Helps Usher in the Attitude Era

Mike Tyson's most important moment in WWE actually came two months prior to his appearance at WrestleMania XIV in 1998. 

His segment during the main event segment on the January 19 episode of Raw that ended with a pull-apart after Austin flipped the former world heavyweight champion boxer off really served as the launch point for Stone Cold to become one of the biggest stars in wrestling history.

WrestleMania was the official coronation of Austin as the top guy when he defeated Michaels to win the WWE championship. 

Tyson's role in the match was minimal as an outside enforcer. He counted the pinfall, double-crossing Michaels after joining D-Generation X the previous month, for Austin to win the match. 

The final payoff came when Tyson dropped Michaels with a punch that served as a symbolic ending of The Heartbreak Kid's in-ring career for four years. 

Lawrence Taylor Beats Bam Bam Bigelow at WrestleMania XI

Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow at WrestleMania XI is another of those pleasant-surprise matches.

This was a period in time when McMahon was desperately craving business. WWE brought in Salt-N-Pepa to sing "Whatta Man," Jenny McCarthy and Pamela Anderson accompanied Michaels and Diesel to the ring for the WWE championship match, and six NFL players stood in Taylor's corner for the main event. 

Like Mayweather vs. Big Show, it's not a classic WWE or WrestleMania match. It was one in which a professional wrestler knew his job was to make the outside star look good, and Bigelow did a terrific job of selling for Taylor. 

The former New York Giants linebacker's offense basically consisted of forearms, but he was effective at delivering them and was surprisingly good at selling given this was his first time in a WWE match. 

Mr. T Helps Usher in WrestleMania

Mr. T is the reason wrestling fans, for the most part, accept celebrities at WrestleMania. 

When McMahon started his most famous event in 1985, as a response to the NWA's annual Starrcade that debuted two years earlier, no one knew what to expect. It wound up playing an instrumental role in helping move wrestling out of territories and turning WWE into a national promotion. 

Hulk Hogan was already the biggest star in WWE by the time WrestleMania I was held on March 31, 1985. Mr. T was finishing up his third season on The A-Team when it was one of the most popular shows on television. 

Mr. T's role in the match was mostly limited to boxing with Roddy Piper, which set up their match at WrestleMania II the following year. However, he helped to sell the match and the event, making it something fans of wrestling and pop culture could appreciate.